Career

Business Information

This site uses cookies to enhance your user experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. These cookies are completely safe and secure and will never contain any sensitive information.

Signup Now

Wednesday, 12 October 2016
This Indian IoT Product In China Shows How Factories Will Be Part Of The 4th Revolution

Flutura featured in Forbes.com !
Read article here : http://www.forbes.com/sites/sumitchakraberty/2016/10/12/why-henkel-dragon-plant-in-china-is-using-indian-iot-product-flutura/#2d013727533c
One of my fondest memories of growing up in a small town in India is making gashes in the bark of a tree on the way to school. The next day we would collect the gum which had seeped out. It was fun to use the natural gum to stick labels on our notebooks, even if it was messy

One of my fondest memories of growing up in a small town in India is making gashes in the bark of a tree on the way to school. The next day we would collect the gum which had seeped out. It was fun to use the natural gum to stick labels on our notebooks, even if it was messy.

Later I graduated to industrially produced adhesives, from simple glue to quick fixes for broken objects. But it’s only recently that I learned about the sophisticated technology and precision manufacturing involved in adhesives for such critical products as the wings of aircraft.

One of the leading manufacturers of adhesives of this kind is Henkel, headquartered in Dusseldorf, Germany. Its Dragon Plant (the name is a cultural homage to the plant’s sheer magnitude) in Shanghai, China, is the world’s largest adhesives factory, and aims to be the smartest one, too.

I was intrigued to discover how an IoT (internet of things) product made by an Indian startup, Flutura, in Bangalore is playing a transformative role in this. It’s part of a phenomenon some describe as the fourth industrial revolution.

Fitbit for machines

We’re fast getting used to a new world of smart homes, self-driving cars and virtual assistants. But an even bigger change is quietly brewing in our industries, thanks to huge advances in the collection and analysis of sensory data from industrial machines hooked up to the internet.

Just as feature phones had to give way to smartphones, the days of dumb industrial machines are also numbered. We are rapidly moving to an era of smart machines.

Derick Jose, co-founder of Flutura, describes its IoT product Cerebra as a “Fitbit for machines.” It captures data streaming from various sensors on machines to analyze their health and predict problems.

Think of the money saved when timely intervention, thanks to a trigger from Cerebra, prevents a breakdown in an oil rig. “One hour of downtime, interrupting the pumping out of oil, costs anywhere between $30,000 and $200,000 for one of our oil & gas clients in Houston,” elaborates Krishnan Raman, CEO and co-founder of Flutura.

Machines have always given out signals from sensors monitoring pressure, vibration and a host of other things. But once they’re connected to the internet, all those signals can be correlated and analyzed to make intelligent predictions and provide actionable insights.

Flutura has been working with OEMs [original equipment makers] like Stewart & Stevenson, Siemens, and JBT, which make oil rig pumps, energy equipment, and aerobridges, respectively. These are machines costing upwards of $1 million each, so any increase in efficiency or decrease in downtime leads to huge savings for their users.

Smart factories

In the case of Henkel, Bangalore’s Flutura is helping to transform the way quality is managed in making adhesives for clients like Bombardier, which uses a metal bonding glue for its aircraft wings. Here it’s going beyond smart machines to help create smart factories, because it extends across the whole manufacturing process.

Sandeep Sreekumar, who is strategizing Henkel’s smart factory move, explains to me that the IoT product from Flutura introduced in the Shanghai plant this year is part of a larger scheme of things that began in 2014. “IoT is not something you buy in the market and you suddenly become a smart factory. It doesn’t happen like that.”

Making an adhesive is a lot like cooking a dish. You have a set of ingredients and a method of cooking it. Various factors like quality of ingredients, quantity and timing determine how the dish turns out. Some things are hard to control, such as the influence of weather fluctuations on the characteristics of ingredients. That could affect the flavor of an onion or the viscosity of a glue material.

Here’s where a smart factory becomes a game-changer. What if you could predict how a dish will turn out instead of waiting to cook and taste it to decide if it’s good?

For Henkel, human errors, rework and quality testing account for much of the cost of making adhesives. A large inventory also has to be maintained in case of rejected batches. All those can be reduced drastically with a shift to prediction instead of inspection.

“We are creating an environment where you have a much smarter way to control quality,” says Sreekumar.

Sounds good in theory, but rolling it out on the ground involves a series of calibrated steps. Henkel began in 2014 with standardizing and simplifying the backend layers such as the ERP stack. The next year it began collecting data on manufacturing processes and digitizing the process flows.

This year it started connecting the machines and integrating the machine data with the process data to be able to derive predictive intelligence. That’s when a company like Flutura was brought in for actionable insights.

Friday, 16 September 2016
How Tech in Asia Bangalore opened doors to Japan for this IoT startup from India

Japanese hardware and Indian software make for a winning combo in IoT, and I’m here to help make that happen,” remarked a smiling Yoshiko Tsuwaki, deputy director of the information and communication electronics division in Japan’s ministry of economy, trade, and industry (METI). She was speaking at a dinner hosted by Naotaka Nishiyama of Deloitte Japan’s Tohmatsu Venture Support. It was a part of the Tech in Asia Bangalore conference on July 6-7

How Tech in Asia Bangalore opened doors to Japan for this IoT startup from India

Japanese hardware and Indian software make for a winning combo in IoT, and I’m here to help make that happen,” remarked a smiling Yoshiko Tsuwaki, deputy director of the information and communication electronics division in Japan’s ministry of economy, trade, and industry (METI). She was speaking at a dinner hosted by Naotaka Nishiyama of Deloitte Japan’s Tohmatsu Venture Support. It was a part of the Tech in Asia Bangalore conference on July 6-7.

One of the participants in the conference was Flutura, an industrial IoT startup from India, which has already got a foot in the door in the US and European markets, with clients like airport equipment maker JBT and energy equipment maker Siemens. The Flutura CEO and co-founder, Krishnan Raman, was a speaker on a conference panel discussion on new age technologies.

Japanese hardware and Indian software make for a winning combo in IoT.

After the panel discussion, he met Nishiyama of Tohmatsu Deloitte, who had a booth at the conference. This led to Krishnan making a presentation to Japanese businesses at an event held by IoT Acceleration Lab and Global Startup Lab on August 23. “The reason why Krishnan san made the presentation was because Flutura received the most votes among members of IoT Acceleration Lab at that time,” Nishiyama shares with Tech in Asia.

Krishnan had also connected with Yoshiko after the conference. This led to Flutura registering for CEATEC, one of the largest IT/Electronics exhibitions in Japan where major Japanese companies have booths. Subsequently, Flutura was among 10 startups chosen by CEATEC Japan for its IoT acceleration lab which commences early next month. It’s a government-supported program to provide financing, mentoring, and regulatory support to cutting edge IoT projects.

“We are really thankful to Yoshiko San and Nishiyama San for providing us with the opportunity to talk to Japanese customers. We have also received the confirmation of being chosen for the CEATEC IoT Lab and we’ll definitely be there. Thanks to Tech in Asia for having introduced Yoshiko San and Nishiyama San to us during the Bangalore event,” says Krishnan in an email.

Partnership with Hitachi

One thing has led to another. Yesterday was another high point in Flutura’s efforts to enter the highly developed manufacturing and hi-tech sectors in Japan. Hitachi High-Tech Solutions announced a partnership with Flutura to bring industrial IoT intelligence to Japanese businesses. It includes sales and distribution rights for Flutura’s Cerebra analytics products.

“We are excited to offer Flutura’s innovative Industrial IOT Intelligence solution to the rapidly evolving global markets as well as the Japanese market,” says Takashi Iizumi, president of Hitachi High-Tech Solutions, in a news release.

The ‘scale-as-you-go’ pricing model from Flutura helps our customers to start small and then scale the solution.

“We find Cerebra’s rapid implementation approach, alignment to the engineer’s thinking process, and focus on business value to be truly unique. The ‘scale-as-you-go’ pricing model from Flutura helps our customers to start small with valuable pilots and then scale the solution. We believe that now is the ideal time to familiarize our customers with it and believe this partnership will open up new business opportunities for both parties.”

This is a significant milestone for Flutura which already has a strong presence in the IoT hubs of Houston in the US and Berlin in Germany. With a newfound opening in IoT-hungry Japan, the Bangalore startup sits on the cusp of East and West, giving formidable industrial IoT rivals like GE’s Predix a run for their money.

Friday, 04 April 2014
Flutura - One of the 11 fastest-growing product website- Times of India

Provides Big Data analytics technology to mine hidden insights from huge chunks of machine generated data for global oil and gas majors to bring in efficiency and safety. Flutura was launched in February 2012 by Krishnan Raman, Derick Jose and Srikanth Muralidhara, who earlier worked at IT services firm Mindtree. Several energy, oil and gas majors use Flutura’s patent pending platform, Cerebra.
To know more click HERE

Flutura - One of the 11 fastest-growing product website- Times of India

Provides Big Data analytics technology to mine hidden insights from huge chunks of machine generated data for global oil and gas majors to bring in efficiency and safety. Flutura was launched in February 2012 by Krishnan Raman, Derick Jose and Srikanth Muralidhara, who earlier worked at IT services firm Mindtree. Several energy, oil and gas majors use Flutura’s patent pending platform, Cerebra.

Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Three Real Life AI & IOT Transformation Stories in US Manufacturing

This article examines the convergence of AI and IoT and how the two together are bringing positive change to the manufacturing sector.
There are exciting new possibilities for AI & IoT in the health care and automotive world

Three Real Life AI & IOT Transformation Stories in US Manufacturing

This article examines the convergence of AI and IoT and how the two together are bringing positive change to the manufacturing sector.

There are exciting new possibilities for AI & IoT in the health care and automotive world. But what about the world of operations? Are AI and IoT practical for manufacturing operations? Can they really impact outcomes in the manufacturing industry?

The manufacturing industry is undergoing massive transformation thanks to the collision of two worlds – the physical world (consisting of industrial equipment like pumps, motors, valves, boilers etc.) and the digital world (consisting of deep learning artificial intelligence algorithms, miniaturized sensors, high velocity sensor data streams and Industrial IoT). This fusion of two worlds is creating “digital twin” of electro-mechanical factory operations that impact tangible and measurable quality and yield outcomes. Here are three real world stories from the trenches about how artificial intelligence and IoT are powering the pathway to exponential transformations in industrial outcomes.

AI & IoT transforming Chemical Process manufacturing in Texas

In North America, the majority of control loops controlling factory operations have not been tuned to reach optimal performance. During installation, the tuning parameters are left as the manufacturer defaults. When problems occur with control loops, people often tend to reduce the tuning parameters, as this is the quickest way to reduce instability. Flutura was recently involved in transforming the outcomes of a chemical manufacturer in Texas. One of the chemicals this manufacturer produces is Butadiene and it is used in manufacture of multiple products.

When a command has been given to a control valve for a new position, the behavior of the valve will vary depending on its position, its direction and the amplitude of the signal. Flutura used a deep learning powered product to scan through valve operations/stage and learned the correlation between valve positions, performance and quality of mixture in reactors. This algorithm was further tuned to create a valve health score that helped the maintenance and manufacturing teams to allocate precious resources to bottleneck valves.

AI & IoT transforming catalyst manufacturers operations near Houston

Catalyst play a big role in the refinery industry. While making a catalyst, viscous fluid passes through heat exchangers, agers and post process towers before catalytic balls are formed. Once the catalytic balls are formed they are impregnated with metal like nickel or magnesium. One of the problems to solve in catalyst manufacturing is improving the yield of the catalyst. As a part of this process, about 1000 sensor tags across temperature, pressure and flow rates at multiple stages where captured. Deep learning is used to uncover anomalies in an unsupervised mode from the process sensors and early warning signals of quality failure were sent to plant operations to help take corrective action to improve yield of the catalyst.

AI & IoT transforming glove manufacturing unit in Ohio

Flutura was working with an electric glove manufacturer in Ohio who wanted to reduce defects in the process by 12 %. The glove manufacturing process consisted of six steps from pinning, dipping, rolling, chlorinating, drying and inspection, The deep learning algorithmic product analyzed data from sensors and lab data pools consisting of viscosity, solids in each processing tank, ambient humidity , tank temperatures and fluid discharge rates. The deep learning algorithmic product learned patterns in data and was able to predict future quality outcomes.

As can be seen from the above, AI & IoT would revolutionize smart connected operations in manufacturing. Manufacturers will need to embrace this new paradigm to stay ahead by pulling three specific levers :

Using these insights to impact quality and yield outcomes saving huge operational cost for the company.

As Darwin said “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Good luck as you adapt to the new world of IoT & AI.

Rick Harlow, EVP, Americas, Flutura Decision Sciences and AnalyticsRick is executive Vice President, Americas for Flutura and is responsible for driving revenue for America and the IoT Vision for Flutura. Rick has over twenty years of artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and machine learning experience. He has held executive positions at companies such as Integron, Sprint, T-Mobile and Astradero.

Rick is experienced in product planning, strategy and implementation for large-scale, global industrial machine intelligence initiatives, and in leading world-class, cross-disciplinary teams to meet the requirements of successful industrial machine intelligence deployments. Rick is a member of Infragard. InfraGard provides members of the Critical Infrastructure community a means to share information to prevent, protect, and defend against hostile acts against Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR).

Tuesday, 30 May 2017
20 Indian startups poised to expand in global markets

Photo credit: Pixabay.
London & Partners, an agency of the city administration supported by tax firm BDO and banks Santander and Newland Chase, have been on the hunt for Indian startups ready to expand in global markets. They’ve selected 20 after screening hundreds.
These 20 startups will be taken to the London tech week next month, and subsequently supported in expanding their businesses in world markets using London as a base

20 Indian startups poised to expand in global markets

London & Partners, an agency of the city administration supported by tax firm BDO and banks Santander and Newland Chase, have been on the hunt for Indian startups ready to expand in global markets. They’ve selected 20 after screening hundreds.

These 20 startups will be taken to the London tech week next month, and subsequently supported in expanding their businesses in world markets using London as a base.

“India is one of the highest sources of foreign direct investment to London, so we already have strong trade links. But we think we can go further to strengthen London’s connections with Indian businesses, not only in established sectors, but in growing sectors, such as tech,” says David Slater, director of international trade and investment at London & Partners.

Here’s a look at the 20 tech companies that made the cut for tickets to London:

42Gears

Bangalore-based 42Gears helps enterprises manage their mobile devices to improve workforce productivity as well as secure corporate data. “Mobile devices are designed with individual users in mind. However, deploying them in a business setup is risky without proper security and control. This is where we come in. We enable the adoption of mobile devices for business use,” 42Gears co-founder and CEO Onkar Singh told Tech in Asia in an earlier interview.

Onkar and his co-founder Prakash Gupta worked for Motorola before bootstrapping 42Gears into a profitable venture with international clients.

Chennai-based 2AdPro produces creative content for marketing campaigns in a cost-effective way for global brands. It also has tech products to help manage campaigns. Clarks, Tesco, and BBC are among its clients. The co-founders, Gopal Krishnan and Todd Brownrout, had long careers in the media and advertising industries before striking out on their own.

HR tech startup Edge Networks uses natural language processing, and deep learning to help companies hire talent and manage their workforce. The startup claims that HR is outdated in most companies, but a data-driven approach can improve the chances of connecting the right people with the right jobs.

Deloitte had earlier picked Edge Networks as one of the 50 fastest growing tech companies in India. It is also part of the latest batch at Google Launchpad.

Bangalore-based industrial IoT startup Flutura has already made a foray into international markets and is looking for further expansion. The best description of what it does comes from co-founder Derick Jose in an interview with Tech in Asia – a Fitbit for machines.

Flutura’s Cerebra product uses deep learning to predict outcomes for industrial machines. This has wide-ranging applications in maintenance, quality, and cost control. Equipment manufacturers use it for remote monitoring of machines and providing new services to clients.

Mumbai-based GOQii uses an app coupled with its fitness tracker to provide subscription-based personal coaching to help users interpret metrics and work towards their health and lifestyle goals. “I was running a gaming startup before this. It made me round as a volleyball as I would eat too many pizzas and never exercise. After it got acquired, I thought I would download all the fitness apps and get fit. But nothing worked. I had to consult a fitness coach who kept suggesting meals and recommended exercise daily,” GOQii founder Vishal Gondal told Tech in Asia in an earlier interview.

The startup raised US$13.4 million in series A funding from New Enterprise Associates and Cheetah Mobile, and was part of the first batch of Swiss Re’s accelerator in Bangalore.

Fintech startup I-Exceed has a suite of digital banking products. It has already made forays into Singapore and the US. Now it wants to expand into the European market, starting with the financial hub of London.

Software-as-a-service startup Intelligence Node uses big data analytics for insights into pricing of retail products. More than 100 retailers and brands already use its suite of SaaS products for merchandising strategies, optimizing prices in real time, inventory management, and so on.

Mettl is another SaaS startup. Its tools help enterprises with online assessments for hiring. It can also be used for learning and development tests. Its proctoring program can test a candidate or learner and give instant feedback to a recruiter or teacher.

Bangalore-based MSys Technologies provides tech services related to the use of data centers. These include storage, virtualization, cloud computing, UX engineering, and predictive analytics. It has expanded into the US and Southeast Asia, and is now looking to expand its footprint in Europe via London.

Bangalore-based RxPrism provides customer engagement tools and services, focusing on the healthcare domain which has special needs, such as creating a scientific animation video or tablet app. Headquartered in India, it already has local offices in the US, UK, Dubai, Singapore, and Japan. It hopes to expand its footprint in Europe, Australia, and China.

Bangalore-based SigTuple uses computer vision and artificial intelligence to automate what a pathologist does – examining slides under a microscope and diagnosing diseases. After running pilot programs in several Indian medical institutions, the startup recently raised a series A round of US$5.8 million – the biggest for any Indian healthcare AI startup. It is now looking to expand abroad.

SaaS startup SirionLabs helps enterprises manage outsourced technology services, their suppliers, and contracts. “Sirion will monitor whether they’ve delivered, what they’re supposed to be doing, and if they’re complying with the contract. We’ll provide a picture of what was supposed to happen and use big data to tap into performance,” SirionLabs founder Ajay Agrawal told Tech in Asia in an earlier interview, after raising US$12.25 million in funding from Sequoia.

Smartivity Labs develops and provides activity-based smart learning experiences and toys for children between the ages of 3 and 14. Its DIY educational kits span physical and digital tools to build STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills. These include robots, internet-connected toys and games, and an app delivering curated content.

Hyderabad-based SMSCountry, which began as a provider of bulk SMS, has evolved into a communication platform-as-a-service (PaaS) company. It enables developers to build real-time communication features in their apps – including messaging, voice, and video – without having to build the backend infrastructure for them.

Sokrati has a SaaS product to help ecommerce companies with analytics, optimization, and digital marketing. The SaaS module for digital marketing makes it easy to adopt for small businesses around the world. It also has an enterprise business for larger clients in the banking, telecom, travel, and auto sectors.

Activity-based travel startup Thrillophilia connects local tour operators with travellers. Suppliers apply to list their tours and activities on the platform, and the approved ones are listed for global users to book.

Thrillophilia was co-founded by Indian School of Business grad Chitra Gurnani along with her husband, Abhishek Daga.

Hyderabad-based Transcell Biologics has developed a stem cell repository for regenerative medicine to treat diseases like cancer, neurological ailments, and autoimmune disorders. It is backed by the Indian Angel Network.

Flutura Decision Sciences and Analytics featured in CB insights as Industrial IOT Startup Transforming Factory Floors, Oil Fields, And Supply Chains
So far, the IIoT wave transforming asset-heavy industries has been led by the old guard of tech giants such as GE, IBM, and Cisco.
With connected devices like Nest and Sonos breaking into the mainstream, the IoT has become one of the most-discussed tech trends of the last twenty years

So far, the IIoT wave transforming asset-heavy industries has been led by the old guard of tech giants such as GE, IBM, and Cisco.

With connected devices like Nest and Sonos breaking into the mainstream, the IoT has become one of the most-discussed tech trends of the last twenty years. But the IoT extends well beyond the home and consumer-level gadgets. Asset-heavy industries like manufacturing, logistics, mining, oil, utilities and agriculture have also begun to apply IoT systems to improve efficiency and results. With machines and specialized sensors collecting data at every step of production, the potential gains from the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are enormous. Just in 2016 alone, startups bringing digitization to industry saw more than $2.2B of investment.

So far, the IIoT wave has been led by the old guard of industrial tech companies such as GE, IBM, and Cisco, who envision the IIoT as a core component of their future businesses. GE, in particular, pioneered the term “Industrial Internet” when announcing its $1.5B R&D commitment back in 2012.

But more and more startups are attacking the needs of heavy industry by developing sensors, cloud platforms, networking infrastructure, as well as machine learning software to extract insights from the deluge of data. Using CB Insights data, we mapped out the startup landscape within IIoT, with a new approach that categorizes companies by where they sit in the tech “stack,” starting from hardware all the way down to AI-powered analytics.

Note: While some companies may fit into multiple categories and parts of the stack, we mapped companies based on their primary use-case. This market map is not meant to be exhaustive of companies in the space. Click to enlarge.

The category breakdown is as follows:

Sensors & Connectivity

Connectivity — wireless network providers like SigFox and Ingenu act as the telecoms for the IoT age. Most companies here provide LPWAN (low-power wide area network) connectivity, which is popular radio band for IoT devices because existing cellular systems aren’t power- and bandwidth-efficient enough for systems sending small packets of data. Some, like Senet use the LoRaWAN spectrum, and others like SigFox work with ultra-narrowband specifically for low-power devices.

Sensors & Monitoring — some companies in this area are solely sensor or system on chip (SoC) makers like Ineda Systems, but the category also includes more “full stack” (but industry agnostic) sensor and monitoring platforms like Samsara, Helium, and Electric Imp.

M2M / Satellite — sometimes Industrial IoT assets operate in rural and less connected parts of the world. Satellites can be a more effective way for sensors to transmit data, and companies like Kepler Communications offer a space-based communication network. With similar advantages in isolated industrial environments, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication is a more decentralized way to pass information between devices, and companies like Filament are applying blockchain architecture to do so with low-power industrial sensors.

Edge Devices & Connected Objects

Inspection Drones — startups offering drone hardware or image analysis services for industrial inspection. Some startups like Skycatch have individual use cases, such as construction. Recently, drone makers famous for their consumer drones like 3D Robotics have moved into the inspection space. While it’s mostly aerial drones for now, the category encompasses all types including underwater drones and pipe inspecting drones such as those made by RedZone Robotics.

3D Printing — leveraging materials science and robotics, companies like Desktop Metal and Carbon 3D are bringing the customization benefits of 3D printing to an industrial scale. 3D printing tech is starting to go beyond just prototyping tools to being production-scale for making parts, which is why corporate venture arms of GE and BMW are investing here.

Industrial AR/VR — headsets and mobile AR specifically tailored for industrial settings and field service. Daqri and Atheer are well-funded headset makers that focus on enterprise and industrial settings. Others like Scope AR do similar work in field service using mobile and tablets, employing AR to highlight parts on industrial equipment while connected to support experts in real-time.

Wearables — IoT sensors worn on the body in industrial environments. Strong Arm Technologies makes a safety wearable and some industrial smartglass makers like Ubimax and Upskill also have wearables offerings.

Robotics & Exo — industrial automation robots along with exoskeletons that augment human abilities. Companies like Rethink and Righthand Robotics both make the classic arm-shaped industrial robots for manufacturing. Clearpath Robotics does warehouse robotics, as well as a host of ruggedized ground and sea-faring drones. And companies like Kindred and Sarcos are developing worker exoskeletons that can help handle heavy materials or be remotely operated for inspections.

Universal Platforms & Edge Intelligence

Universal Platforms— cloud vendors here commonly market themselves as general platform-as-a-service (PaaS) companies that allow other IoT and IIoT companies to manage and maintain the capture of data from their device networks. This includes the mostly industry-agnostic platforms like C3 IoT and Altizon that do cloud analytics for industrial companies.

Fog & Edge Computing — computing done at the “edge” or closer to the sensor is a trending shift occurring within the IIoT architecture. Companies like Saguna Networks do edge computing (close to the point of collection), whereas a company like Foghorn Systems does fog computing (think a lower-hanging cloud that’s done on-site like a LAN). Both methods allow mission-critical devices to operate safely without latency of transmitting all data to a cloud, which can also save big on bandwidth.

Applied Sensor Networks

Fleet — sensor networks and solutions for connected trucking fleets. Companies like Veniam are focused on the connectivity aspect, where others like Vnomics sell optimization and vehicle monitoring technology.

Smart Grid – startups in this area develop tech that enables more efficient distribution of electricity, gas and water, and often market to utility companies. Trilliant, Tendril, and BluePillar are smart-meter enabled solutions for utilities and large enterprises to manage usage and reporting.

Factory — Eigen Innovations and the companies in this category are more vertical-specific platforms for manufacturing analytics. Eigen, for example, uses video and sensor data on factory floors to ensure process and quality control.

Warehouse — robotic movers and RFID sensor systems that target the warehouse. Fetch Robotics, for example, does material transport on warehouse floors. Alien Technologies, one of the most well-funded startups in all of IoT, does RFID tagging tech for the supply chain.

Advanced Analytics, Edge Intelligence & Protection

AI, ML, Predictive Analytics — software that allows companies to find insights and derive predictive analytics such as when machines will need maintenance. Most companies in the category are like Maana and work by applying AI to mining machine data, but others, like Augury Systems, offer a full sensor suite that detects machine anomalies and offers predictive analytics.

Cybersecurity — companies in this category develop cybersecurity solutions for IIoT and industrial control systems (ICS) in heavy industry. The IIoT has already suffered serious hacks; a German steel mill suffered “massive damages” after hackers accessed a blast furnace that workers could not properly shut down. Bastille Networks is one company that focuses on protecting the wireless transmission of IoT and RFID devices, and Claroty is a well-funded company working on protecting industrial control systems.

Flutura Decision Sciences and Analytics (Flutura), the Industrial Internet-of-Things (I-IoT) company today announced a fund raise of $7.5 million (approx. 51 crore), one of the largest in the Industrial Intelligence space. This Series A round is led by Vertex Ventures and supported by Lumis Partners and existing investor, The Hive.

Founded in 2012, Flutura provides mission critical insights to drive industrial outcomes, based on their capability to interpret machine signals from connected assets and connected processes. Applicability of the solutions ranges from powering new business models for machinery manufacturers to optimizing complex process and discrete manufacturing operations. Their flagship software platform, Cerebra, provides diagnostics and prognostics through machine learning and artificial intelligence, to unlock new business value for many leading engineering and energy customers across the globe.

Speaking about their vision and future plans, Krishnan Raman, CEO and Co-Founder, Flutura said, "We believe that the industrial sector is at an inflection point where digitalization is disrupting fundamental process/product design, transforming business models and at Flutura, we are uniquely positioned to help our customers thrive in this situation. This investment round for us is not just about money, but having experienced and strategic global partners like Vertex and Lumis bolster the existing team help us in our core focus industries of Energy and Engineering."

Ben Mathias, Managing Director, Vertex Ventures commented, "Flutura has demonstrated that it can build world-class technology that is adopted by corporations globally. Their ability to compete and win against global behemoths clearly proves their depth of market understanding and focus on innovation. We are excited to work with Krish, Derick and Srikanth in this bold endeavour."

With operations in Palo Alto, Houston, Tokyo and Bangalore, Flutura boasts of visionary customers like Henkel, Stewart and Stevenson and Sodexo amongst many others. They have also established strong partnerships with the likes of Intel and Hitachi for product and market access support and were also accelerated by Microsoft Ventures in the Hi-Po scale-up program. Acknowledging their robust growth story, Rohit Bhayana, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Lumis Partners , said, "Flutura, in a short span since founding, has accomplished a very mature solution-set for the Industrial IoT space. The solution relevance is clearly visible, from the global traction it has garnered and the value adding use cases it has powered. Lumis, as a firm focused on the intersection of operating technology and manufacturing, is excited to be associated with Flutura in this fabulous journey."

Flutura Co-Founders, Krishnan Raman, Derick Jose and Srikanth Muralidhara, collectively have more than six decades of experience in the industrial engineering and advanced analytics space. A rapid learning curve achieved by working with some of the world's most cutting edge industrial companies and learning from fluctuating market dynamics has helped refine their approach to customer acquisition. Flutura had earlier received a seed fund from the Palo Alto based Hive, who is focused on the big data and analytics space. Arihant Patni, Managing Director, The Hive India, said, "We placed our bets on the founding team and are delighted at what has been achieved. We welcome Vertex and Lumis to help power Flutura into the next orbit of global growth".

About Flutura Decision Sciences and Analytics:

Flutura is a pioneer in the Industrial IOT Intelligence space having operations in Palo Alto, Houston, Tokyo and Bangalore. Its Cerebra IOT Intelligence solution providing diagnostics and prognostics solutions for equipment and process operations is unlocking new business value for many leading engineering and energy customers. For more details, visit their website: http://www.flutura.com

About Vertex Ventures:

Vertex is a leading global venture capital group supporting entrepreneurs to transform their innovative ideas into world-class businesses. With cumulative committed capital in excess of $2.5 billion, Vertex invests in early-stage IT and healthcare opportunities in China, Silicon Valley, India, Israel, and South East Asia. Since 1988, Vertex is honored to have partnered with the founders of global leaders such as Waze, 91, Grab, IGG, CyberArk, Reebonz, SolarEdge, Force10, FirstCry, Yatra and Changba. Vertex Ventures SEA is one of the pillars of the Vertex Group's network of Funds focusing on early stage opportunities in the Information Technology sector in SEA and India. For more information, visit: http://www.vertexventures.com/southasia/

About Lumis Partners:

Lumis Partners is an Investor in Technology & Technology-enabled-services for a few chosen segments like Industrial IoT, Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain and Human Capital. It brings growth capital and operating capability to scale early stage companies into market leaders. Lumis works closely with founders and management teams to build leading businesses in rapidly emerging market segments. For more details, visit:http://www.lumispartners.com